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Football London
Football London
Sport
Alan Smith

Chelsea sale: new owner will inherit far bigger asset than Stamford Bridge from Roman Abramovich

There will be no shortage of nostalgic looks back at Roman Abramovich's 19 years as Chelsea owner when the sale is completed in the coming weeks.

Supporters will point to certain dates in the calendar. The first Premier League win in 2004-05. Lifting the Champions League in 2012 and 2021.

But the greatest lasting legacy is arguably not a trophy. It is probably the club’s world-renowned academy.

Whoever ends up being successful in their bid to buy the club - and there seems to be no shortage of suitors - may not be inheriting one of the Premier League's best stadiums but they will have the use of an underage setup that is envied by a majority of clubs.

The benefits of the Cobham conveyor belt are two-fold.

Mason Mount and Reece James are evidence of a pathway to first-team stardom and there is no underplaying the financial benefit to producing ready made players who can be sold on for big sums.

Look at Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham in the past year, sold to Milan and Roma for a combined £60million.

There have been misses. Letting Declan Rice go as a youngster, making only £3million for Tariq Lamptey. But the overall value is impossible to dispute.

The club won an unprecedented seven FA Youth Cup titles between 2010 and 2018 and there are high hopes that the next generation can go on to have similar success under the guidance of academy chief Neil Bath.

There are justifiable fears from supporters that the days of huge spending in the transfer market could come to an end under more frugal owners but the academy offers a significant degree of protection.

As with every aspect of the club heading into this uncertain future, there will be expectations on the owners to continue investing in the youth structure to ensure that the club continues to develop some of the country's best talent.

The personnel and facilities are there, meaning it is about stumping up enough funding to maintain and preserve. To let standards slip in this area would simply be bad business.

Part one: transfer future

Tomorrow: Stamford Bridge redevelopment.

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